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Once school officials nixed a loving photo of San Antonio high school student Felicia Rivera and her girlfriend holding hands in a photo on the yearbook’s Valentine’s Day couples page, Rivera took action and began collecting signatures to petition the photo be reinstated
Once school officials nixed a loving photo of San Antonio high school student Felicia Rivera and her girlfriend holding hands in a photo on the yearbook’s Valentine’s Day couples page, Rivera took action and began collecting signatures to petition the photo be reinstated, according to KVUE.com.
The school photographer at Brennan High School shot a photo of Rivera and her girlfriend holding hands, a photo school officials later deemed was “too intimate” and violated the student handbook policy regarding public displays of affection.
The Brennan High School campus handbook states, “Embracing or kissing is not an accepted practice on the school campus. Lack of cooperation by students can result in parent conferences and/or disciplinary action.”
Sixteen-year-old Rivera has thus far collected about 200 signatures from fellow students in hopes of getting the photo placed back into the yearbook.
Rivera has the support of her father Felix Rivera, who said the school’s decision to yank the photo was discriminatory.
"They were fine with it until they realized it was girl-girl," said Felix. "It got placed, it got set and it was going to print and then it got pulled."
While the Riveras view the incident as prejudicial, the school’s director of public information Pasqual Gonzalez said that all students are welcomed in the district.
"We make no judgment about students' sexual orientation or anything else like that,” Gonzales said.
In the wake of the yearbook kerfuffle Rivera and her girlfriend hope to start an equality club at their high school, according to KVUE.
KVUE did not make it clear if the above photo is indeed the yearbook photo in question.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
